Tension prevailed outside the Municipal Corporation’s Zone-D office on Friday when a large number of dairy owners from the Tajpur Road dairy complex staged a protest and dumped cow dung at the entrance gate of the office.The protestors, who had also blocked Tajpur Road on Thursday evening, accused the MC authorities, Mayor and Rajya Sabha MP Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal of failing to provide an alternative system for disposal of cow dung after the earlier disposal point was shut.Around 10.40 am, protestors reached the Zone-D office with two tractor-trolleys filled with cow dung. In a dramatic protest, the cow dung was dumped outside the main gate of the office. Shiromani Akali Dal councillor of Ward No. 20, Kamal Arora, himself drove one of the trolleys to the site.As the protest intensified, demonstrators pushed the main gate of the MC office with force, following which heavy police deployment was made at the spot. Both entry gates of the office remained shut to avoid any untoward incident. Protestors later sat outside the office for nearly two hours, raising slogans against the civic authorities.The tussle between dairy owners and the MC has been continuing for nearly two months over disposal of cow dung and waste generated at the Tajpur Road dairy complex.Dairy owners alleged that after the disposal point, from where waste was being released into the nullah, was closed on directions linked to the Budda Dariya cleaning drive, no alternative arrangement was made by the civic body. They claimed that heaps of cow dung had accumulated inside the dairy complex over the past several days, blocking internal lanes and creating severe inconvenience for residents and dairy operators.“The condition inside the dairy complex has become pathetic. Cow dung is lying up to three feet high in several lanes and movement has become nearly impossible. The authorities stopped the earlier disposal system but failed to provide any alternative,” said Lovely Singh, president of dairy association Tajpur road.Interestingly, the MC had awarded a contract worth around Rs 23 crore in February this year for lifting cow dung from the Tajpur Road and Haibowal dairy complexes. However, dairy owners alleged that despite the contract, regular lifting of waste had not taken place, leading to the present situation.Following the protest, a seven-member delegation of dairy owners was called for a meeting inside the MC office. The closed-door meeting was attended by a representative of the district administration, police officials and Municipal Commissioner.After the meeting, MC Zone-D Zonal Commissioner Jasdev Sekhon said the civic authorities had listened to the demands raised by dairy owners. “The Municipal Commissioner has assured the protestors that additional carts for lifting cow dung will be deployed within a day and the issue will be resolved on priority,” he said.Following the assurance by the MC authorities, the dairy owners lifted the protest in the afternoon. However, they warned that if the problem of waste disposal was not resolved permanently, they would intensify their agitation in the coming days.